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Hybrid Tricycle for asia?

Hi! I’m from the Philippines and I am planning on building a customized hybrid motorcycle to address the transportation needs of my country. Currently there are more motorcycles than cars in the country and we use “tricycles” (motorcycles with sidecars) for public transportation. Hybrid cars are almost nonexistent in the country and aside from LPG converted vehicles; there aren’t any other greener alternatives to traditional ICE vehicles. My project’s goal is to study the feasibility of a “hybrid conversion kit” that if successful can be made commercially available for tricycle operators and at the same time raise awareness for renewable and clean energy which at the moment is an irrelevant issue in this third world country.
I am doing this alone as a hobby and hopefully I can get some help or other ideas from you guys.
Here’s what I’m planning on doing from what I have researched:
1. I will be building a parallel hybrid with a microcontroller managing the use of the ICE and Batteries.
2. Nickel metal hydride batteries are to be used; I am estimating 50 V should be enough. Does anyone know any battery manufacturers?
3. Regenerative braking will be applied.
4. Will probably be using a 125cc motorcycle with manual transmission.

Some questions that I have yet to find answers:
1. I need the motorcycle to operate using the batteries on lower speeds and the ICE to kick in once it hits cruising speed, will I be able to achieve these results using a series configuration? Also might need a motor assist feature similar to the hybrid Honda civic which let’s the batteries assist the ICE in certain instances.
2. How do I know how much Volts ill be needing with the NIMH battery?
3. For regenerative braking, how much does a supercapacitor cost and is it easy to install? Are there other alternatives to doing regenerative braking?
Thank you very much. ? I am no expert but merely an enthusiast, unfortunately I am not good with these things and I am very lucky to have come across this website.

I've been thinking the same

I've been thinking the same thing since i first came here to the Philippines. My thought would be to firstly aim at the short trip rides where you can charge with ICE and operate by electric using an ICE optimal to the generator used. But I like your idea since its more versatile. Unfortunately I also have no deeper knowledge in these things.

I think a hybrid tricycle is

I think a hybrid tricycle is a great idea. I would love to see some trikes in the Philippines that were running on electric. Phew! The air pollution in some places there is just aweful. I would start with a 500 watt motor and maybe 10-20 ah battery. More power and regenerative braking could be added later.

lol, I am very happy to hear

lol, I am very happy to hear that you have visited our country. Our place would have been a paradise full of happy people if it not for our incompetent political system.. tsk

Thank you for expressing interest in my work, unfortunately i still don't have the answers i am looking for but have made a significant amount of progress with my research. I will be concentrating on some other things for the mean time and will probably finish this work by around October 2009. Will post updates and questions next time.

Hybrid bike- cool idea! Have

Hybrid bike- cool idea! Have you considered trying to modify hydrogen technology?
We teach people how to do it using cars which run off 12 volt systems and have beefy alternators, so I'm not sure what kind of set-up your bikes run on.

I assume 6 volt systems? This would take a different design than normal, but could be done. Maybe I could help you design an efficient HHO system? An on demand Hydrogen generator increases car mileage by 30%-50% on average, a bike would probably do better, if the magneto/generator could keep up, could be a LOT cheaper and faster way to start saving money on gas, maybe give you a system you can sell to others there in the Phillipines.